Containers for materials such as liquids, ores, minerals, sand, powders, waste, or grains such as wheat are available. These can be handled by machines called tipplers, whereby the containers can be pivoted or tipped to discharge their contents. An issue with containers for bulk ore or liquid materials is that the container content creates a load on the container side walls, and can cause deflections in the side walls. To reduce deflections or buckling during rotation caused by the load, the walls of the container have been reinforced by cross braces as in PCT/GB2010/000122 or by top braces as in WO9513233.
Open containers have manually closed by lids which have fork tyne receptors on the lid, to enable a fork lift to place a lid onto or move a lid from a container. The lids are used during the transport phase to protect the bulk material from the weather and to prevent the action of wind from forming dust from the bulk material during transport.
Once the container gets to its destination such as a transfer location, by means of the tyne receptors a fork lift will move the lid off the container and then the container will be delivered to a tipping or tippler device which will engage the container and lift and rotate the container to discharge the contents of the container into a desired location. This tipping process can require the container to be rotated 180 degrees to discharge the bulk product by the tippler.
Such tipplers are generally attached to ships cranes or ship to shore cranes or shore cranes or mobile harbour cranes and the container can rotated and discharged directly in the hull of the bulk container of ocean going vessels.
Current practice is that these lids are manually locked in place by ground personnel and removed using a fork lift. The container is then lifted and emptied into the ship.
Any reference herein to known prior art does not, unless the contrary indication appears, constitute an admission that such prior art is commonly known by those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, at the priority date of this application.